「行方不明だった王子様が見つかった！」 all the headlines on the news said. From farmer boy to Royal Prince, what a joke. No matter how welcoming the media made it look, for Kenji it just felt like being ripped away from his family.

Long lost prince who? Not him, he just wants to go back to his cows in Ihatovo. Kenji sighed, strolling down the hallways that felt way too big in clothes that were way too new for his liking. He preferred hand me downs from other villagers, but the maids had looked at him like he'd grown a second head when he suggested such a thing.

His father, the biological one, apparently, had summoned him into the Great Hall of the palace. Something told him it was about his recent behavior. Kenji wasn't one to act out often, but he just wasn't built for royalty life. Give him cows and mud to play with. Recently, he'd been more... rebellious, so to say.

“You called, sir—” the young Prince sighed, stepping out onto the marble floors. His shoes made clicks with every step he took, a sound he was yet to get used to. “Very well, young Kenji,” Akihito's loud voice boomed across the room. “You see, your behavior recently has been nothing but—”

Kenji tuned out most of the scolding session his father gave him, instead focusing on the quiet teen half hiding behind the throne. What are they here for? And why do they look so... tense? The Prince furrowed his brows slightly, eyes snapping back to his father when he heard the last few words.

“So yes, they'll function as a whipping-sha (person), understand?”